


Have A Heart

by Smokeycut



Category: Valhalla - Fandom
Genre: Domestic, F/F, hopelessly in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-11-01 18:39:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10927701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smokeycut/pseuds/Smokeycut
Summary: Nel has a human heart, but it's not the only human thing about her.





	Have A Heart

The grey skies outside were ugly, she thought. The pattern of the rain on the wooden deck was chaotic and senseless. She looked out of the sliding glass doors, herself sitting cross legged in just a pair of jean shorts and a dark grey tank top, and she sneered at the smell of the fresh spring rain. She loved it all more than she could bear. 

Nel's fingers explored the carpeted floor, deftly running across it's surface and taking note of each fray and every mote of dust. Her skin, false as it was, could still feel as well as if it were real. The fuzzy carpet tickled the tips of her fingers, and she silently chastised herself for allowing boredom to lead to fidgeting. She was a robot, she had no need to fidget. She had no need to feel bored. She had no need to feel, period. There was no logic to it. 

And then she saw Vibs, standing in the kitchen just a few feet away, and the all too human heart that was hooked into her chest began beating a mile a minute. She wished she could just pull the infernal organ out and replace it with an artificial one. Let herself be fully inorganic, as she was meant to be. But it meant too much to Vibeke, for her to have this heart. It meant so much to that damned Raven haired goddess, and she couldn't bring herself to cause her pain. Not any more than she already had in the past. Even just the thought of how Vibeke might react to the heart being gone was enough to make Nel sick to her stomach. When did she become so human?

 _When she first fell asleep in your arms,_ she thought to herself. It felt like such a long time ago, more than a thousand lifetimes. She brought her hands back to her lap and let them rest there, palms facing upwards. Her fingers came apart at the seams, and she saw every little glimmer of metal that lay underneath. Wire tendons and steel bones made up her body beneath the surface, and she always found it fascinating to watch her internal workings. She told herself that it helped keep her mind off of Vibs, but that was a lie. A horribly obvious lie. 

_She's always on your mind._

"Hey. Do you want dinner?," Vibeke's voice called from behind the kitchen counter. She had her hair pulled back into a short ponytail, and she was examining a takeout menu with a finger pressed to her lips, a cute accent to her thought process. Nel knew that Vibeke knew she didn't need to eat. It was a waste of food and a waste of money, but Vibeke always asked. As if it made Nel feel more normal.

_It does._

"I do."

Vibeke smiled softly at that and placed the call. Nel scowled and rubbed her knee in frustration. It came apart smoothly, all the panels of fake skin making way without the slightest resistance. She remembered the night that Vibeke listened to her heartbeat through the glass, the night that her body had come apart without intention. She had been sleeping, one of the first times she did so, and it just happened. Vibs' hair had nearly been caught in Nel's chest cavity when she woke up and pulled herself back together. Then she had relaxed, and let Vibeke push her chest open, and let Vibeke listen to her heart.

Her heart was still pounding. Her heart kept pounding as she picked at the lo mein she didn't need to eat, and it kept pounding as she made fun of Vibs for spilling soy sauce on her shirt. It didn't stop pounding when they watched Blade Runner after dinner, when Vibs rested her head on Nel's lap. It felt just about ready to burst when they were in bed together that night, her chest pushed open and her heart exposed for Vibeke to listen to as she drifted off to sleep. 

_She's all that matters._

"Yeah. I know," she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes.


End file.
